Chapter 70

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When we returned to the venue, Aura and Torue were nowhere to be found.

“……”

But there was still a glimmer of hope.

Maybe they were just tired from dancing and were wandering around the castle like we were.

“……Heal……Heal……”

I cast the healing spell on myself multiple times and searched for them.

……I knew the chances of them being inside the castle were low.

After all, the maid at the venue had given me an awkward look.

That look probably meant something.

But I had no choice but to cling to that sliver of hope.

“……Heal……”

In the empty hallway, all I could hear was the sound of my own footsteps.

“Heal!!”

My anxious shouts echoed down the long corridor.

“……”

How long had I been running?

After running around the castle, using healing spells, I finally found myself back at the venue.

“……”

For some reason, I approached the man in the venue with unsteady steps.

“……What happened here……?”

I knew I should have asked someone from the beginning, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it until the very end.

“Eh, well, actually, someone was kidnapped……”

Of course……

I felt an urge to curse, but I held back and listened to the rest.

“I think it was the girl with red hair and the one with brown hair……. It happened so suddenly that no one could stop it……”

Unfortunately, the hair colors matched.

“……Ah, I think they mentioned something about a smell……?”

That was probably Lily’s scent.

Since we had been sleeping together since last night, both of them must have had Lily’s scent on them.

“……Thank you”

I could feel the negative emotions growing inside me.

“Oh, there you are.”

“……?”

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind me.

I turned around to find King Esyck standing there for some reason.

“Huh, Your Majesty!?”

The noble I was talking to bowed suddenly, but I wasn’t in the mood for that.

“……Is something wrong……?”

“No, I just wanted to ask if you knew that a demon’s familiar had come and taken someone away?”

“Yeah, I know.”

I hadn’t heard about the demon’s familiar, but that wasn’t important right now.

“……It’s hard to say, but……”

Esyck looked me in the eye.

I must have looked terrible.

I couldn’t see my own face reflected in Esyck’s eyes, but I knew.

I knew what Esyck was about to say.

And I didn’t want to hear it.

“……It’s your companions.”

……………………

………………

…………

……

After that, I don’t remember anything.

When I came to, I was lying on a bed in some room, clutching the blanket.

“……Ah”

I felt something wet around my eyes.

My throat felt strange, as if my voice was hoarse.

“……Heal”

I cast the healing spell with my hoarse voice and treated myself.

“……Ha……”

I might have caused trouble for Esyck and the others.

I did a bad thing……

But I couldn’t stay here forever.

I threw off the blanket and approached the door to leave the room.

“Nesto, you’re awake?”

Just then, Lily entered the room with some food in her hands.

“Ah, Nesto, you’re awake!”

“Ah, yeah……”

I didn’t know what to say since I didn’t know what had happened after I heard Esyck’s news.

“Here, I made this for you, so eat it.”

Lily urged me to return to the bed, and I complied.

“Huff, huff”

Lily blew on the food she had brought.

“Here, open up”

She tried to feed me.

“Ah, open up”

……It’s delicious. Lily’s cooking is always delicious.

“Wait, this is wrong!!”

What am I doing!?

If I think about it, Aura and the others were kidnapped!

There’s no time for this!

There’s something else I need to do!

It’s……

“Hey, Lily”

“Wh-what?”

She seemed surprised by my sudden outburst and responded hesitantly.

“Hey, Lily……”

I had asked this before.

But the commotion at the time prevented me from getting an answer.

“……Are you a demon……?”

This time, it was different from before. I asked Lily with almost certainty, finally getting to the truth.